Stanford might have to beat UCLA twice over the next two weekends to get to the Rose Bowl, and it's possible the Cardinal will play their next three games at the Rose Bowl.

Here's the deal:

To win the Pac-12 North Division and earn a berth in the conference title game, Stanford probably has to beat UCLA at the Bruins' home stadium, known as the Rose Bowl, in a 3:30 p.m. game Saturday. Then, to get to the game known as the Rose Bowl, Stanford would have to beat the Pac-12 South champion Bruins again in the Pac-12 championship game six days later, Nov. 30, at Stanford, which would earn the home field by virtue of a better conference record.

Oregon could make things easier for Stanford by losing to Oregon State in a noon game Saturday, because that would assure the Cardinal a berth in the Pac-12 title game even if Stanford loses to UCLA, which already has clinched the South title.

But if Stanford and Oregon both lose Saturday, the Cardinal would play the Pac-12 title game back in Pasadena, because UCLA would earn the home field based on its victory over the Cardinal. And if Stanford wins that conference-title game at the Rose Bowl, the Cardinal would return to Pasadena for a third straight game for the Rose Bowl game Jan. 1.

Somewhere in there is a joke about a rose by any other name ...

The 'Johnny Football' phenomenon: With Collin Klein throwing three interceptions in Kansas State's 52-24 loss at Baylor, Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel moved within range of becoming the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy.

A few things make his Heisman run particularly intriguing:

-- Manziel and Marcus Mariota both verbally committed to Oregon on the same weekend in June 2010. Four months later, Manziel decommitted and committed to Texas A&M, but you have to wonder which one would be Oregon's quarterback now if Manziel had signed with the Ducks.

-- Nobody - not Manziel, not his family, not anyone at Texas A&M - knows exactly who came up with the nickname "Johnny Football." It seemed to surface during the summer before his senior season at Tivy High School in Kerrville, Texas, and gained momentum when he committed to A&M. The fact that the nickname seemed to appear out of thin air adds to the mystique.

-- Although he is called a freshman, Manziel will be virtually a junior academically on the day the Heisman Trophy is awarded.

He enrolled at Texas A&M in January 2010, and redshirted last season while attending classes. Texas A&M's fall classes for 2012 end Dec. 4, four days before the Heisman Trophy presentation.

Penalty problem? Next time a coach says penalties killed his team, just chuckle.

UCLA has more penalties and more penalty yardage than any other team in the country, and the Bruins (9-2) have clinched a berth in the Pac-12 title game and are ranked 15th in this week's Associated Press poll.

Furthermore, all but one of the nation's six most-penalized teams have a winning record, a group that includes Oregon (10-1), Utah State (9-2) and Louisiana Tech (9-2) as well as the Bruins.

The combined record of the 10 most-penalized teams is 74-37.

AP Top 25

Notes: First-place votes in parentheses; total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote.

Wait and see

Five cases to prove it's foolhardy to gauge a team's season based on early results:

West Virginia: The Mountaineers, who were 5-0 and ranked No. 5, have lost five straight and need to win one of their final two games against Iowa State and Kansas to get to a bowl.

Michigan State: The Spartans opened with a victory over Boise State and were 2-0 and ranked No. 10. Now they are 5-6, tied for last in their division of the Big Ten and need to beat Minnesota to get to a bowl.

Virginia Tech: The Hokies started 2-0 and ranked No. 13, but they have lost five of their past seven and need to beat Virginia to earn a bowl berth.

USC: The Trojans were 2-0 and ranked No. 2, but now they're 7-4. If they lose to No. 1 Notre Dame on Saturday - QB Matt Barkley is out with a sprained shoulder - they will have lost four of five games.

Washington: The Huskies began the season 3-4, with three of the losses by 30 points or more. Now only Washington State stands in the way of an 8-4 regular season.